Today’s Natural Family Planning (NFP) is not your grandparents’ method. The ease of use and effectiveness of NFP is constantly improving, making it even more attractive to Catholic couples who desire to plan their families in a manner consistent with God’s plan for marital love, sexuality and new life.
Generations ago, couples had only a rudimentary understanding of the phases of human fertility, based primarily upon the length of the woman’s menstrual cycle. It was observed that a woman was most likely to conceive a couple of weeks before her period, so couples recorded cycle lengths and used the average length to predict the woman’s next period.
By counting backward from that date, the couple estimated a time of fertility to try to conceive or avoid getting pregnant. This calendar-based method became known as the rhythm method. It wasn’t very effective in postponing pregnancy, so it led to a joke: “What do you call a couple who practices the rhythm method? Parents!”
While Catholics do not consider any conception of a child a “failure” of the family planning method, there are certainly times when couples would like to have a more effective way to postpone pregnancy. This desire has led to improvements in NFP efficacy that parallels knowledge of human reproductive science.
Researchers found that women could track the sensation and quality of the fluid from the cervix. This fluid is necessary for conception to take place, so tracking its characteristics helps couples to identify the best time to conceive; couples wanting to postpone pregnancy would avoid relations when the fluid is present. This led to NFP methods now known as ovulation methods, because the fluid appears near the time the woman ovulates.
Other markers of fertility have been noticed and utilized for family planning. A person’s body temperature drops to a base level after a few hours of sleep, then rises with activity. This base level or “basal” body temperature fluctuates during a woman’s cycle. When recorded on a graph, a pronounced rise can be seen shortly after ovulation.
The observation of this temperature shift is used alongside cervical fluid symptoms in models of NFP known as sympto-thermal methods.
With the advent of home hormonal testing strips and monitors, a third type of NFP methods has arisen – sympto-hormonal models. These models add to or replace the observable symptoms of fertility with measurement of the hormones themselves.
Simple test strips used for predicting ovulation (ovulation predictor kits), available in stores or online, can identify the presence of a hormone that appears at the time of ovulation. More complex hormonal devices can detect other hormones that precede or follow ovulation, providing couples with daily predictions of low, high or peak fertility.
It might seem that observing, recording and interpreting all of these signs of fertility can be too complicated for the average couple. Indeed, some NFP charts might look a bit like a science experiment lab book.
However, a certified teacher can show couples how to record their personal biomarkers of fertility. It then takes just minutes a day to keep a usable record of the woman’s fertility cycle, from which the couple can monitor reproductive health and plan their family.
Technology has developed along with NFP methods. The rhythm method can be practiced simply with a calendar and some basic math, yet devices were developed to calculate the fertile time for couples. Many were patented and sold to couples desiring to use the best available products to assist in reaching their family planning goals.
One such device, patented by E.J. Culligan in 1936, was donated to the Office of Marriage and Family Life. The metal cylinder is wrapped with multiple sliding sleeves with calendar dates, which, when turned to the correct positions, does the calculation of fertile time for the couple.
Technology has advanced greatly since the 1930s. The rhythm calculator has been replaced by modern computer and phone applications that allow a woman to tap a few keys each day to record her symptoms of fertility.
However, couples should be aware that while these apps may record multiple biomarkers, the predictions of fertility are often based upon mathematical calculations of menstrual period length. In essence, these apps are sophisticated calendar-based methods.
Highly effective modern methods of NFP utilize biomarkers such as cervical fluid, temperature and hormones, in addition to cycle length. The daily recording of these biomarkers is done more easily now by means of new femtech (female technology) products. These devices assist the couple in gathering better data to record on their cycle charts; some also provide prediction of fertility.
Ovulation methods of NFP observe only cervical fluid, which by its changeable nature can be difficult to describe or quantify. For couples having trouble classifying fluid, The Cervical Mucus Project, https://cervicalmucus.org, provides quality educational photos/videos of cervical mucus.
The kegg, https://kegg.tech, is an internal cervical fluid monitoring device that makes cervical fluid assessments easy and objective for couples who are trying to conceive and might not be confident identifying fluid on their own.
Sympto-thermal methods have long used basal thermometers made to detect the subtle differences in daily readings. Mercury thermometers have been replaced by digital thermometers available at most drug stores and online; “smart” thermometers add the convenience of being auto-synced to an app.
For women who dislike waking to take their temperature, there are wearable devices such as the Tempdrop armband, https://www.tempdrop.com/, and Ava Fertility bracelet, https://www.avawomen.com/fertility.
The greatest advancements in NFP technology are being made in those areas that support sympto-hormonal methods. Couples value the scientific objectivity of a fertility reading from a hormone test stick or monitor, giving them a precise idea of their hormone levels.
The simplest is using single-use test strips such as Wondfo luteinizing hormone or Proov progesterone test strips to cross-check cervical fluid signs. Hormone monitors such as Clearblue track reproductive hormone levels (estrogen and luteinizing hormone) and digitally display one of three readings – low, high or peak. All of these items can be ordered through Vitae Fertility Education, https://www.vitaefertility.com/.
The Mira Analyzer reads four key hormone metabolites in urine – LH, estrogen, progesterone and FSH – and gives a numerical reading, https://www.miracare.com/.
There is no single best NFP method because every woman’s body is different, every couple is different and their personalities, bodily health and schedules are different. The wide variety of NFP methods and devices allows couples to practice NFP in a way that is cooperative, confidence-building and complementary to their marital relationship.
For information about NFP and classes, contact the Office of Marriage and Family Life at 614-241-2560 or visit the diocesan NFP webpages at https://columbuscatholic.org/marriage-family/nfp.